The Daughter of Minerva
by Kay-Kay RE
Summary: Marlena Roberts knew that she wasn't supposed to happen. She was a mistake, the forbidden child of a maiden goddess. Could she ever be accepted despite her parentage? How was she even born? This daughter of Minerva uses her natural-born knowledge to figure everything out so that she can set it straight. Or can she?
1. Prologue

**Hey, everybody! Just thought I'd let you know that I am still alive. I am very sorry for not updating for a while, but I've been super busy lately. I have marching band, and for those of you are also in marching band, you can understand how much time and energy it takes up. I am also in my school's drama: Sherlock Holmes. So, I've had a lot to do, but my life should calm down in a couple of weeks, then I can update more. I will update my other two stories, but I want to upload this first. You should appreciate it since I got the idea at 11 o'clock last night. Anyway, you don't want to hear me talk. Without further ado, ****The Daughter of Minerva****!**

**Marlena POV**

I glanced over my shoulder as I ran for my life from what seemed to be hundreds of monsters. There were so many kinds, most of which I had never seen or heard of before. I had been chased by them for the last few weeks after leaving my Pennsylvania home to go to a place that I had been beckoned to in a dream.

I know it seems strange to listen to an order that you dreamed about, but this dream was different; it was so…real. It felt as if I were receiving a phone call. Something inside of me just seemed to know that I had to do what the voice of that mysterious woman told me to do.

I realized that I had been looking back for too long when I turned my head around and came face-to-face with a forest, almost ramming right into a tree. The forest was overgrown with many different plants as if it had been neglected a long time ago. After a moment of hesitation, I decided to keep running, figuring that whatever I would find in these woods could not be worse than what was behind me.

As I ran, I felt my foot catch on a root. I did not let this hinder me, though. I kept up my wild dash on what was beginning to feel like a badly sprained, or possibly even broken, ankle.

Soon, I came to a clearing and was surprised at what I found. There was a brick mansion that looked like it had been burnt almost completely down to the ground. In the middle, there was a pit that greatly resembled an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

What happened next was the most surprising out of everything that had happened so far.

A pack of timber gray wolves came running out of what seemed to be thin air. They ran right past me as if I were invisible to them and only stopped when they reached my monstrous pursuers.

I watched as the wolves cared the monsters off by using only their fierce, menacing growls and the threat of their razor-sharp teeth. They didn't even need to lift their paws to show off what I was sure were some wicked sharp claws.

At that moment, I felt millions of emotions rush up inside of me: fear, gratitude, confusion. Feelings that I had suppressed because of my being chased. Now, I felt so much that I wasn't sure which emotion was most prominent.

Then, I heard soft footsteps heading in my direction. For a second I wondered if they could be pawsteps, (I'm making it a word) but quickly brushed off that idea. When I turned around, though, I gasped at what I saw.

It was another wolf. The biggest wolf of them all. It was a tiger-sized she-wolf with shiny, silver fur and clear blue eyes.

The wolf looked at me and smiled, which made me wonder if I was hallucinating.

"Hello, Marlena," she said with the same voice as the one I heard in my dream, "and welcome to the wolf house. I am Lupa. Before I say anything else, you must first show me whether you are strong enough to live and train here, or if you are weak and must die to be food for my children."


	2. Ch 1

**Sorry that I basically disappeared for a while…but I'm back! I'm on spring break and hoping to update all of my stories, so, wish me luck! This chapter probably won't be that great, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!**

**Marlena POV **

Well, I wasn't eaten. That was about the only good thing to happen to me lately. Right now, I was wandering somewhere in the middle of California, near San Francisco, I think. The truth is, I wasn't sure where I was going. Lupa had said that I would know and to follow my instinct, but at the moment, I had the feeling that my instinct needed a GPS.

As I walked along a California highway, I mused over everything I had learned while at the Wolf House. The first thing I learned was how to fight in order to keep myself alive. At first, I was only allowed to fight with my body, but after a while, I would be randomly upgraded: first, to sticks and rocks, then to bow and arrow, and finally to knives and swords. After I was able to fight up to Lupa's standards, I was allowed to choose my weapon. She told me that I would be able to choose a new weapon at my destination, but I doubted that would happen.

I loved my weapon. It was an imperial gold dagger with a hilt engraved with silver colored owls. As soon as I held the dagger, I knew it was perfect for me. The weight was balanced just right and I felt like I could fight with it as if it were a part of me. Automatically, I knew what its name was: Sapiens. When I mentioned this, Lupa informed me that Sapiens was Latin for wise. Somehow, though, I already knew this.

The thought then reminded me of another lesson, Latin. I quickly learned that I had a natural aptitude for speaking and understanding Latin. Automatically, I could have some fairly nice, albeit simple, conversations with Lupa in fluent Latin. Apparently, demigods like me naturally knew some Latin because it was the language spoken by our parents in ancient Rome. I knew that I would have to study Latin some more, but I liked knowing that being who I was had some perks. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to learn more of the language until I arrived at, well, wherever it was I was going.

I was starting to become seriously upset with the stupid wolf goddess. I mean, how in the world was I supposed to find this mysterious place of safety, if I knew next to nothing about it. I had no clue what I would find there, if I would like it, or if it was really as great as Lupa made it sound. If I had a choice, I would have just lived in the Wolf House, especially after learning what she told me the day before I left.

I wouldn't be accepted. That's exactly what she said to me. Apparently, because of my parentage, which she still wouldn't tell me, it would be extremely hard for me to fit in and be accepted by my fellow demigods. I didn't quite get this. I mean, if I was supposed to be safe, why wouldn't I be accepted? Didn't all demigods face the same things? Secretly, I hope that I would either find some siblings to share my struggles with, or some friends who would accept me. Or both. Still, I didn't quite understand. Now I really wanted to find this place so I could make some sense out of all of this madness.

All of a sudden, I heard the sound of screeching tires. My head snapped up and I groaned at what I saw. It was a monster, fighting through the cars in order to cross the road…and get to me. In the process, it managed to create a traffic jam bigger than I had ever seen, as it stretched on almost completely into the horizon. At first, I couldn't tell exactly what kind of monster it was, then all of a sudden, I saw it. And let's say I wasn't jumping for joy when I made my realization.

It was a dracaena. A stupid Scythian dracaena. I have no idea why I hate those monsters so much, I just do. Anyway, she was slithering toward me, obviously taking her time as if to say I was a waste of her time and would be easily beaten. Like she had nothing to worry about with me. I stood there; putting what I hoped was an exasperated look on my face. However, she just smiled in amusement and kept on with her slithering and and her worsening of the traffic jam. There were going to be a lot of unhappy drivers and a bunch of excited news reporters really soon. I just hoped that this would be over with before there was a chance for that to happen. I hadn't known about being a demigod for long, but I knew that lots of attention, especially for inexplicable things, was very, very bad.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the stupid snake woman arrived.

"Hello, demigod," she started in a raspy, serpentine voice, "looks like you're here to provide me with my afternoon snack."

"Ha. As if," I snorted.

She laughed, which sounded more like a shaky hissing. It would have been humorous if not for the circumstances. "Ah, so a feisty one, eh? Well, I always enjoy a little spice in my meals. Now, would you like to do this the easy way or the hard way? As for me, I would enjoy both, although the hard way can be a little tiring. So, demigod, what is your choice?"

"I choose neither. Instead, I'll go with the third choice," I smiled at the shocked look on her face.

"Third way? There is no third way, foolish girl. What do y- "

I cut her off, "What I mean is, I'm going to have to kill you , since you're in the way of me completing my journey,"

Realization hit her, then she smirked, "Fine, so be it. You'll just be my dinner entertainment,"

She and kept on conversing like that, back and forth, but I was talking on autopilot, a skill I had picked up when I needed to think something through. This time, I was trying to develop a plan, when suddenly it came to me. I tried not to let it show on my face though.

"You know," I began, "You're going to need to learn to stop talking so much before a kill, you've given me enough time to have my friends get here,"

"What?!" She exclaimed, "I don't see anyone!"

"Well of course not, because they're coming up behind you."

Suddenly, her head whipped around. This is where the rest of my plan came into play. My plan was to distract her while I discreetly pulled out Sapiens and cut her head off. I succeeded too, better than I thought I would. As soon as she turned around, my dagger was already swinging toward her neck. I was about to start with the decapitation when she said, "I don't see any-", then, she fell silent. Probably because her head was falling off of her shoulders and on to the ground as she began to disintegrate. Poor thing didn't even see it coming. Oh well, at least I figured out why I don't like them.

They're too conceited to actually do what they need to do.

The battle ended just in time, too. I saw a van pull up with the name of a local news station and saw a bunch of people with cameras pouring out. That was my cue to get myself out of there, and figure out where in the world I was going.

I walked on, heading toward San Francisco since it was the nearest city and I figured I would be needing to rest soon. It had been three days since leaving the Wolf House, and most of the time, I had to find little hideouts for a quick bath, an on-the-go meal, or a quick catnap. I was really hoping that I would get a real shower, full meal, and good night's sleep for once. And I would, just not in a hotel and at a restaurant like I thought.

As soon as I entered the city limits, I felt a fire in my gut. And just like that, I knew exactly where I needed to go, and it wasn't to the nearest McDonald's. Instead, it was leading me straight through the city. As I walked along, I realized just how beautiful the city really was. There were palm trees everywhere, and I could smell the ocean. Across the ocean, the Pacific if I remembered correctly, was the Golden Gate Bridge, which was even bigger than I expected it to be. On both sides of the street were restaurants, hotels, arcades, and shops, all spread out evenly. Along the sidewalks walked many pedestrians, some tourists, and some who were obviously from the area. In the street, a steady flow of traffic traveled along.

DMDMDMDM

After a few hours, I had reached the outskirts of the city which happened to be a nice little suburban community. I walked through the houses until I came upon an exit to the nearest highway, that's when I had that fiery feeling again. I walked up a small hill and onto the edge of the highway. As I started walking, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. I just hoped that I could get to wherever I was going without any more stupid monsters or any other complications.

Soon, I reached an area where I had a choice to either keep following the highway, or slide down the hill to the bottom. Following the cars seemed the most logical choice, so that was what I did. As soon as I had reached the hill, however, the feeling was back and the strongest it had ever been. I then decided to nix my earlier choice and follow the hill down to the bottom.

As soon as I reached the bottom, I recognized where I was. The Caldecott Tunnel. I had learned about it once at school when studying different tunnels. I know, it was really weird for me too. Anyway, I walked around to the front of the tunnel and saw the strangest thing: two kids dressed in full Roman armor. That was definitely not something I had studied in school.

Upon walking closer to the two guards, I was able to get a better idea of what they looked like. They both seemed to be teenagers, around 14-17, so they were close to my age. The one on the left appeared to be a guy with a lanky but muscled build, shaggy blonde hair, and a very red mouth. I wondered if he was part of the prank. The other guard looked like a girl. She was very pretty with dark hair and blue green eyes. She seemed to be friendly, although a little sad.

I then walked up to the strange couple outside. When I was almost in front of them, they both looked toward me, then at each other. Soon, they both turned around and silently began leading me into the tunnel. I really hoped that I was in the right place. I was also starting to get very nervous.

Then, the girl spoke, "So, how much do you know?"

"Not much," I replied, "Just what Lupa told me."

She nodded as if this made sense.

"Okay, well, I'll tell you a little bit about where you're going. The place is called Camp Jupiter, and it will be your new home. Basically, it is a training camp for demigods like us. You will learn more fighting techniques, and be able to be around others that are like you. We have special classes designed just for us. But just so you know, we also have duties. Obviously, you will start off on probatio and have little jobs like cleaning stables and such. Eventually, though, you will have harder jobs like guard duty and set up and tear down of different activities. Also, you will have a schedule to follow, and will be placed with a group of demigods that can help you out called a cohort. A person from a cohort will volunteer to have you join them, so I wish you luck in getting into a good one," She looked back and smiled at me, "Does this all make sense?"

I thought about it for a second, then nodded, "Yes, I think so. At least now I kind of know what I'm getting myself into."

She chuckled, "Well, kind of. It's hard to explain, but you'll adjust quickly, most do. I'm Gwen, by the way, and this is Dakota," she then leaned back and whispered, "He's very strong ADHD so he drinks a bunch of Kool-aid to calm himself down. Not that it does him much good."

I took a closer look at him, and sure enough, he was fidgeting like he couldn't move enough. That also explained the big red stain around his mouth. I was also ADHD, and dyslexic too. I had had some help in school, and could read better now, but it still was a challenge. Lupa had informed me that many demigods had these disabilities too, so I felt better about it, knowing that there were others like me. She also explained why many of us had these to problems. We had ADHD because of our high battle reflexes, we were ready to react at an instant and focused really well in battle, just not as well when we had to be sitting still. We were dyslexic because we were born with the ability to read and speak Latin, so the original demigods didn't have this problem. Since we moved to a different culture, however, we gained Dyslexia and the only language we could read easily was Latin. However, Dakota was an extreme ADHD case.

I looked forward again, and saw that we were nearing the end of the tunnel, and I could see what looked like a miniature ancient city outside. Also, the tunnel had changed and stopped looking like a maintenance tunnel. After a few more seconds, we were standing on the outskirts of what was indeed a miniature Roman city, straight from ancient times.

"Welcome to New Rome," Gwen stated as I looked around at everything.

Just a few feet away was a little river. Spread all around were a city hall, what looked cabins, a field, aqueducts, and another, smaller city off to the side. I gazed around in amazement. It looked like the ruins in Rome, just new and all in one piece.

"Now, we're going to take you to visit the praetor, Reyna," Gwen announced, "All new demigods must see her first, she will talk to you, ask some questions, and decide what exactly to do with you. Not in a mean way, of course. She will then give you some instructions on what to do. After you leave, I can lead you around. Oh, and make sure you tell the whole truth at all times. Neither she, nor her dogs, tolerate any form of lying."

I nodded again as this all sunk in. Soon, we were in front of a beautiful forum building. We walked inside to see a regal looking girl with long black hair and brown eyes. At her side were two greyhounds: one silver and one gold. When she saw me, her eyes widened.

"So it is true," she started, "The illegitimate child. You should not have been born."

**I hope that this is better than I think it is. I hope you like it, and the little cliffy ;) Please review, and don't be afraid to give me advice!**


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